The Traitor
by Lumpyness
Summary: A variation on the original movie plot. A "what-if" scenario beginning in the "See You Tomorrow" scene, with a more in-depth and intense focus on the feelings of the main characters. Story already planned and mostly written with sequels also on the way.
1. Chapter One

_ Well, here we are then. _

_My very first fan fiction ever (published, that is). _

_You'd think a 19-year-old university student would have better things to do than write __endless chapters on this kind of film, but, since I first watched it back in March 2011, it has (quite literally) dominated my waking thoughts and dreams. _

_Sad, I know, but true. _

_I've read a few other pieces of writing by other HtTYD fan fiction authors, and figure "hey, I may as well share what I've got with you guys out there!"_ _So please, rate and review to your hearts' content. _

_I don't care what you've got to say, any kind of feedback_ _is appreciated. _

_I'd recommend you familiarise (no, sorry, I'm not American/Canadian) yourselves with the movie thoroughly before reading. _

_And now, without further ado, here it is. _

_Enjoy. _

_Lumpyness. _

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><p><strong>Chapter One: A Near Miss<strong>

Astrid stopped, axe held back above her head, ready to throw.

Hiccup stood staring at her, quite surprised and a little frightened; she had almost taken his head off.

During the brief moment in which the pair simply stood gaping at each other, Astrid noticed the large bundle of – well, whatever it was that the boy was carrying.

But before Astrid could speak a word, the chief's son turned away, hurrying off into the forest, obviously not in a talking mood.

"_Where is he going?_" Astrid thought to herself, a deep, unexplainable curiosity awakening within her.

Rarely was the Viking girl interested in Hiccup's petty little capers, but perhaps this had something to do with the boy's new-found talent at dealing with dragons; certainly a matter which warranted investigation.

Stealthily tailing the teen boy at a reasonable distance, Astrid vaguely pondered Hiccup's sudden wave of successes in the dragon ring.

How had he gone from being, well, Hiccup, to being one of the most proficient Vikings in Berk at subduing dragons?

And the manner in which he performed these seemingly effortless tasks was just _bizarre_; not once had he actually tried to fight the beasts – Astrid's mind was suddenly jolted back to the fully conscious world, as she almost toppled over the edge of a cliff.

Ducking down behind a sizeable boulder, the young girl caught sight of her quarry making his way cautiously through a slit in the rocky walls, and down into a large, roughly ovalesque clearing.

This great cleft in the forest floor was stretched a veritable quarter of a mile across, and reached another 30 yards in depth, containing a small lagoon in the centre.

Climbing slowly down, Astrid watched as Hiccup reached the bottom, carefully jumping down the last leg, still deftly carrying his bundle of leather straps and other riding paraphernalia – wait, _riding_.

"_Weird_..." but Astrid had no time to dwell on this new observation, as Hiccup was now acting very strangely.

Again.

"Old habits die hard, I guess," scoffed the Viking shield-maiden, yet with a slight smile playing around her face.

"Hey Toooothless! Toothless! Come on, bud! Toooothless!" Hiccup was calling as he unpacked from his bundle a lumpy parcel of what looked to be fish.

_Fish_, of all things...

That boy never ceased to amaze – and then Astrid received one of the greatest shocks of her life.

A large, black dragon came bounding out from behind a clump of bushes on the opposite side of the clearing, and half flapped- half ran around the edge of the lagoon, wearing what was unmistakably a look of expectant delight on its smooth face.

Astrid immediately ducked down behind the nearest rock to her location, which was unluckily half way up the only track in or out of the great forest clearing.

For several seconds, she sat there, heart pounding furiously against her ribcage, clutching her axe tightly with white knuckles, until – "_Oh great Odin's beard – Hiccup!_" Looking out around the boulder behind which she had hidden, weapon in hand, Astrid prepared to go to that little fool's rescue yet again.

But just as she was about to shout out to Hiccup to run for his life, Astrid Hofferson witnessed something astounding.

The great black beast was standing next to Hiccup, wolfing down the fish that the chief's son had brought for it, purring contentedly while the young Viking scratched its scaly, black hide.

There was no aggression present whatsoever between Viking and dragon, no hint of fear at all, neither from Hiccup _nor_ the dragon.

"Impossible..." murmured Astrid, eyes wide, utterly bewildered by what she beheld; a bond of friendship and trust that seemed to transcend any words the young girl tried to use to describe it.

There was a kind of mutual understanding between Hiccup and the dragon he had called 'Toothless.' "But it does have teeth..." whispered Astrid to herself, still with that unusual smile on her face as she watched the black beast consume fish at a rate that seemed almost physically impossible.

She didn't recognise this dragon from the book, which she had practically memorised from cover to cover.

"_What are you?"_ Astrid thought to herself, watching from cover as Hiccup now began to fit what seemed to be another part of the dragon's harness – wait, _harness_?

Surely he didn't _ride _that thing, did he?

Astrid's question was not left unanswered for long, as Hiccup had soon finished his modifications to the stirrups, which were clearly intended for human feet.

The dragon had also finished its meal, leaving only a single smoked eel lying on the lush grass beside the lagoon.

"Ah, sorry about that bud," Hiccup smiled nervously, as the black beast began to growl irritably, looking from the Viking boy to the slimy fish and back again, evidently incensed at the youth's apparently unintentional cheek.

"I was in a hurry this morning, and I kind of forgot to check what I was grabbing from the stores..." But Hiccup's excuse was ill received, as the dragon continued to growl, now nudging the boy with its scaly head.

Hiccup quickly kicked the eel into the lake, and the dragon shook its head, huffing as if to say '_you-should-have-known-better-than-to-bring-me-that-so-no-excuses-next-time'_.

"Feeling up for some flying practise bud?" asked Hiccup, a slight grin on his goofy features, and the great black beast immediately snapped its head towards him, trilling in a excited fashion, a look of joy on its smooth, scaly face.

Watching with a weird combination of amazement and fear, Astrid just marvelled, eyes wide, as the chief's son, young Hiccup the Useless, actually _mounted_ the dragon and sat atop it, just as one would on any ordinary beast of burden.

But Toothless was the complete opposite of any semi-domesticated animal that Astrid Hofferson had ever seen before in her life.

And to top it all off, the fire-breathing monster actually looked _thrilled_...if that's what it was.

Astrid was already beginning to gain an understanding of how the dragon's face expressed its emotions, just like any human's would.

And this, more than anything, made her feel deeply unsettled.

These beasts were meant to be dumb, witless, horrid creatures without any sense of self-awareness, let alone the capacity for deep emotions and critical thought – And then they were off.

As the pair of opposites took off in flight, awestruck Astrid could only stare in shock and disbelief.

She knew that Hiccup was one odd kid, and that he had always been the one to take a step to the side in the logical continuation of any crazy situation.

But to tame and befriend a dragon?

And to then have the gall to fly it?

This required something else, a quality that Astrid was sure she had never seen in any other Viking before today.

But as the boy and his dragon disappeared above the canopy of leaves high above, she shook her head slowly, eyes wide with amazement.

The wind playing in the treetops seemed to sigh and whisper, giving the whole scene an ethereal feel.

After several minutes of just sitting there in contemplation, the young girl slowly gathered her thoughts and began to make her way out of the clearing and back through the forest towards Berk.

A hint of some kind of beautiful magic still lingered in the air, as though Hiccup's treacherous friendship with the black worm was almost..._sorcerous_.

The warm, balmy afternoon seemed entirely out of sync with what Astrid was now feeling.

The chattering of birds and the rustle of the wind in the boughs above fell dead upon the Viking girl's ears.

Reaching the outskirts of the village, Astrid now felt sure that she had never felt less sure about what she now felt.

What did she feel?

Confusion, for a start...but then, anger, at Hiccup's betrayal of his fellow Vikings?

Fear, that he would bring death and destruction down upon the village through his rash actions?

_Jealousy_, that he now, for the first time in ages, had something that she did not?

It was quite a maelstrom of thoughts and emotions that all fought for space in Astrid's mind that Summer's afternoon outside the Viking village of Berk, one that would not truly settle for a very long time.

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><p><em>I hope some of you are starting to get an inkling (or 50) of where this might be going. <em>

_Next chapter in a week's time...possibly earlier (can't really stress the "possibly" enough, as I currently have exams to deal with). _

_Lumpyness._


	2. Chapter Two

_Right._

_Here's chapter two._

_You might have to bear with me for a little while I figure out what the best style of formatting for my story is... as is probably obvious by the fact that I_ _ended _ _up changing chapter one twice._

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><p><strong>Chapter Two: The Power of Flight<strong>

Hiccup's mind was racing as fast as the clouds around him.

Soaring through the hazy afternoon sky, the young boy felt a sense of tremendous elation that he had not ever had the joy of experiencing before.

Nothing else mattered right now.

The great coastline was stretched out below him, rugged cliffs picked out sharply by the glorious rays of an afternoon summer sun.

Despite being high enough to touch the clouds, Hiccup was not cold.

Far from it, the exhilaration he felt at this incredible experience had pushed all negative thoughts, feelings and emotions from his mind.

And for the first time ever, he just might have been feeling free.

Truly free.

Toothless could sense this.

He could tell that his rider loved the feeling of flight far more than the dragon himself had expected.

Roaring his own feelings to the great blue expanse, Toothless realised that he had never truly appreciated that which he had previously taken for granted for so long.

Until this moment, the Night Fury could not have helped feeling some resentment towards the Viking boy who had crippled him.

But _now_, back in the air, soaring free, not had he once again attained peace of mind, but he had someone to share this wonderful feeling with; he had a friend.

Hiccup and Toothless were now linked by more than just words and actions.

A new and truly unique bond had formed between man and beast.

It took at least another hour for the pair to tire of flying, by which time the afternoon was really getting on.

Landing back in the forest clearing, both human and dragon collapsed, feeling utterly exhausted, yet seemingly content.

Hiccup promptly fell out of the saddle while trying to dismount...but only half way, and Toothless snorted with laughter.

Hanging upside-down from the dragon's harness, his foot caught in the stirrups, Hiccup himself began to chortle, as the whole situation became simply ridiculous.

Eventually extracting himself from the saddle, Hiccup just lay on the grass, panting with exhaustion, as the black dragon curled his tail protectively around his beloved rider.

"Thanks so much bud," he grinned at the dragon.

Toothless looked down at the boy curiously, his striking green eyes wide and curious as if to say "_But_ _what for?_" And Hiccup answered his unasked question.

"Everything." Slumping down beside the lagoon, Toothless purred contentedly while Hiccup leaned against his side, casually scratching behind the black beast's ears.

The dragon, however, still had some energy left.

Stealthily sneaking his tail around the boy's waist, Toothless waited until he thought Hiccup was completely at ease.

And then before the young Viking knew it, he was soaring through the air once again... only this time without any control at all.

"Wha-!" Splash!

Now he was floating out in the middle of the lagoon, shivering with the sudden cold.

"Suffering Scallops!" he bubbled.

Looking back towards where the dragon was lying, Hiccup could see Toothless rolling around in the sand in fits of mirth.

"Oh yeah, very funny!" Hiccup yelled as he swam back to the shore, half annoyed-half amused.

"I take it you like the water just as much?" And he splashed the dragon with all his might.

Toothless' amusement was sharply interrupted as he was hit by a shower of unusually cold water.

As his yelp of shock turned into a growl of irritation, the Night Fury leapt into the water, a look of playful revenge barely hidden on his scaly features.

And so, another ten minutes of the afternoon was wasted with pointless yet fun mucking around.

Glancing up at the sky, Hiccup noticed by the long shadows how low the sun was getting.

Climbing out of the water, soaked from head to toe, Hiccup sighed contentedly.

It had been a very tiring day, but was sadly now almost finished.

"I'd better be off, bud.

_Stoick_ expects me home for dinner... and I'd better not disappoint him now, eh?" He finished on a sad note, and Toothless gave a deeply unsettled warble; he had clearly received Hiccup's hidden message with these last few words, and did not want the little Viking to return to his other life.

Toothless had long since realised that any time spent by Hiccup with the black dragon was time well spent indeed.

At least the poor boy was not having all manner of slander, insults and ridicule hurled at him.

Turning to go, Hiccup looked back at the dragon, who was now gazing mournfully at the young Viking.

The great forest clearing was alive with the sound of evening crickets, and the twittering of those more nocturnal creatures, despite the fact that the sun was still relatively high in the sky.

Toothless gave a quiet whine, eyes wide and pitiful.

Hiccup smiled back, before resigning himself to another evening of emotional suffering.

"_There can really be no fathoming of the depths to which these Vikings have sunk_", thought Toothless as he watched the boy go.

"_To have done this to one of their own kind..._" "_Why could those stupid humans not see what they were doing?_

_How could _they_ fail to understand that this boy was simply...different?_

_And why did they not see the true qualities which he possessed, those which made him who he was?_

_No-one, human or dragon, could last forever under such a storm of torment._

_Someday, soon I think, all of the emotional pain and suffering that he had endured would be hurled back at his people tenfold._"

And when it was, Toothless would be there for the boy, to rescue the Hiccup from not only those who had abused him so, but also from himself.

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><p><em>Again, please feel free to rate and review.<em>

_I've had a good friend proof all of the chapters as I finish them, but no-one's perfect, and every extra pair of eyes_ _helps._

_Also, please let me know if the formatting style is not suitable, too difficult to follow, etc., and I will try to find a compromise._

_This current layout is_ _how I had originally intended it to be, but please let me know if you don't think it works._

_Next chapter in a week!_

_Lumpyness._


	3. Chapter Three

_Alright people, here's chapter three._

_Good news._

_I think I may have figured this paragraph glitch out._

_Trouble is, I won't know unless I get some feedback, as it doesn't show up when I view the writing._

_So please, at least take the time to inform me whether or not it's working now or not. If it turns out that this has indeed worked, then I'll replace the earlier chapters._

_But for now, enjoy._

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><p><strong><em>C<em>hapter Three: A Time for Thought**

Astrid Hofferson sat alone in her room, deep in thought.

Having long since returned to the Viking village of Berk, she had gone straight home and locked herself in her room; she needed time to think.

It was now drawing towards evening, and the sky was littered with fiery streaks of red-gold clouds, illuminated and picked out by the still-strong rays of the setting sun.

Astrid had watched from her window as Hiccup had returned from the forest just half an hour earlier, sopping wet, completely exhausted, and yet with a strange look of joy and contentment on his freckly features; Astrid had never before seen him as happy as he looked now.

The Viking girl was perched on the end of her bed, having just finished contemplating the potential ramifications of Hiccup's actions.

Hardly the sort of person to let such a matter lie, Astrid had been trying to reach a conclusion on what to do about the current situation.

Hiccup's sudden, newfound friendship with one of the Viking's arch enemies would hardly come off lightly if the other villagers found out – on the contrary, he would most likely become even more of a social outcast than he was at present.

But then it occurred to her; he had nothing to lose.

Astrid had practically ignored Hiccup until now.

It wasn't like she refused to acknowledge his existence, she had simply not bothered to pay him any attention whatsoever – she didn't even decidedly _dislike_ the boy.

He had always been the village nuisance, little Hiccup the Useless, forever getting into trouble and mucking things up, and at the worst of times too.

Shunned by most and ignored by the rest, it seemed that even his own father saw him as a failure.

Berk seemed to hold no future for this un-Viking.

He certainly wasn't going to inherit the title of chieftain from his father – Stoick the Vast to Hiccup the Useless?

No, the village would never accept it.

Snotlout Jorgenson would most likely be next in line...which was just as scary a though, given that he was everything Hiccup was not – including stupid.

It made _perfect_ sense.

Hiccup knew all this, and decided that he would ignore the consequences of anything he might do.

After all, even if he was discovered and caught, what could the villagers do to him that they had not already done?

Exile could be no worse than what the boy must presently be enduring...Astrid had a very logical, if sometimes slightly rash mind, and was very good at calculating the risks and potential rewards of any situation.

She could, however, not begin to fathom the emotional ramifications that continual and obsessive thought about such a circumstance would inevitably bring.

And, given the situation that she was now confronted with, this made the decision on what course of action to take even more difficult to make.

If she told Stoick about his son's secret, the chief would only laugh at her.

No-one would believe that little Hiccup would have the guts to go anywhere near an injured dragon, and she might not believe it herself, had Astrid not seen it with her own eyes.

She could tell the rest of the gang, Fishlegs and the others that was, but knew that a similar response would be awarded her there as well.

The best course of action, the only course of action in fact, seemed to be to confront Hiccup, preferably somewhere private and out of the way.

Astrid wasn't exactly sure why she didn't want any of the adult Vikings to know about Hiccup's not-so-little secret; after all, she didn't care a smidgeon about that little cheat, did she.

Hiccup had suddenly become the best recruit at dragon training, even better than Astrid herself, and was all the more popular because of it.

At dinner, the villagers flocked to the boy's table for hints and tips on fighting dragons, or simply to hear about his stories and experiences with the beasts.

And while the chief's son was hardly talkative on the subject, no-one was even remotely put off, and every little word he spoke was taken seriously.

Astrid was hardly afraid of the boy, but was nonetheless somewhat daunted by the thought of confronting him about the dragon.

Sighing with indecision, Astrid slowly stood up and began to make her way downstairs.

Afternoon now drew into evening, with the last faint rays of the sun just catching the tips of the nearby mountains, causing their snow-capped peaks to gleam brightly, completely at odds with the darkness which now began to press in from all around.

But it was nothing compared with the darkness which now blinded Astrid's thoughts and feelings.

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><p><em>Regardless of any issues still existing with the formatting, I hope you're all enjoying the story so far.<em>

_More in a week!_

_Lumpyness._


	4. Chapter Four

_And now for chapter four! _

_I hope you're all enjoying the story so far, but get comfortable; there's a long way to go! _

_And if my chapters seem a little short, never fear; they get a lot longer later! _

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><p><strong>Chapter Four: Lies and Deceit<strong>

As the next few days dragged by, Hiccup found himself hating dragon training more and more.

_Hel_, he even started to feel like Berk was no longer his home.

And in spite of his repeated successes in the arena, nobody seemed to understand that he wasn't overpowering the dragons...that he wasn't really _defeating_ them.

The scrawny boy simply knew what the beasts did and didn't like, and used this knowledge to soothe and calm the feisty fire-breathing creatures.

And although he now received more admiration and good-natured comments from the other villagers than in the past, never before had it all seemed so…_wrong_.

Oh the lies he was being fed about dragons. He, Hiccup, was the only one to know the truth, so it seemed.

When the boy now looked upon Berk and its inhabitants, he no longer saw a tribe of fierce, proud warriors, but a gang of callous and cold-hearted brutes.

Indeed, it seemed to him now that Toothless had more of a soul than any Viking he'd known.

During the short week for which he had known the dragon, Hiccup could see that Toothless had showed him more love and compassion than he had ever received from those humans whom he had once called his 'tribe'.

Hiccup even began to wonder if it weren't in fact the Vikings who were stupid, blind, vicious and emotionless.

One thing which Hiccup had noticed but actually been surprised by was Astrid's attitude towards him.

The attractive blond Viking rarely acknowledged his presence, and even when she did, it was always with scorn or criticism.

But now that he was doing so well in dragon training, he'd thought she would start to act just a little curious as to how he had stumbled upon this new-found talent.

Having thoroughly expected nothing less than suspicion and jealousy befitting one of such a monumentally obvious ego, the boy had been pleasantly surprised upon discovering that Astrid had become unusually quiet and apparently thoughtful.

Putting it down to sheer surprise that he had gone from a useless nuisance to teenage champion, Hiccup pushed these thoughts to the side.

Having long since resigned himself to a life of fleeting glances and unrequited longing, Hiccup had, himself, inwardly decided that he would no longer care about the girl who had once dominated his thoughts and dreams.

Sure, she was physically attractive, but there seemed to be nothing to her beyond this, especially not now.

No, now had found something infinitely more beautiful in life.

Hiccup and Toothless had, in the space one week, become closer friends than Hiccup had ever believed possible.

The boy and his dragon now shared a bond that Hiccup could not remember ever having before with anyone in his life.

Not even with Stoick, his own father.

These thoughts had been turning over in Hiccup's head in the hours leading up to the second-last fight of the dragon training season.

He and Astrid would be required to tackle and take down a single dragon together, probably a Gronckle, and the recruit who did best would win the honour of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village.

It was an unsettling thought, especially considering Hiccup's new-found affection for the beasts.

"_I had better just let _Astrid_ win it. I can't … I definitely can't kill a dragon now_," Hiccup thought miserably as he made his way across the bridge to dragon training.

Stoick had returned the previous evening, along with the other Vikings with whom he had tried once again to locate the dragon's nest, and to drive them out once and for all.

Of the three ships which had left on the mission, only one returned, barely afloat with the weight of all the surviving Vikings and significant hull damage almost pushing it down into the depths of the ocean.

Clearly, they had failed.

A truly unnerving experience had followed, as Hiccup's father then came to visit him in the forge that evening, just as the boy was trying to improve on his designs for Toothless' harness.

Praise be to Loki, for Stoick had not seen what Hiccup was working on, having been too excited about his son's sudden wave of successes in the ring.

Feigning tiredness had been Hiccup's only escape, one which his father had decided luckily not to contest.

He would, however, be watching the fight today.

And, in spite of himself, Hiccup could not help feeling that he still needed to impress the chief; that he still had to prove himself to his own father.

After a brief pep-talk from Gobber, during which both Hiccup and Astrid could hear the sounds of a great many Vikings assembling around the edges of the ring to watch the fight, the pair of teenagers walked down to the entrance to the arena.

While waiting for Gobber to inform them that the beast was ready to be released, Hiccup and Astrid stood together in total silence.

With the possible exception of the time he had been caught trying to steal an extra loaf of bread from the baker's house several years ago, this was easily the most awkward moment of the young boy's life.

Glancing at Astrid, Hiccup noticed that the girl against whom he would shortly be competing was eyeing him off.

Although, the boy noted to himself, it was more of a death stare than anything.

Hiccup answered with a slightly nervous smile; he could not pick Astrid's behaviour at the moment.

Tilting her head to one side, the Hofferson's daughter frowned as if disapprovingly.

"I normally don't care _what _people do, but you're acting weird," she said suddenly, making the boy she was speaking to jump.

Hiccup spluttered a little, going red in the face, and managed to crack a slight smile, which immediately turned into a kind of sickened grimace.

"Well, weird_er_. Look at you..." She let out a slight laugh.

Confusion was not a feeling that often held sway in Hiccup's mind.

"From nothing to everything in no time at all," Astrid stated simply, a rather odd smile playing around the Viking girl's mouth.

Hiccup shuddered inwardly; did she know something about...?

"Alright you two, it's time!" Gobber's voice sounded loud over the din of the Viking villagers who had assembled to watch the fight and the Iron grill still separating the two recruits from the arena was now hoisted up.

"Stay out of my way," Astrid shot at Hiccup, as the pair of them walked out into the ring to a chorus of cheers.

"I'm winning this thing." And, without another word, she darted off, grabbing a shield, just as the wooden doors on the other side of the arena burst open.

The brown Gronckle which burst forth was, however, either quite tired or slightly drunk, as it floated haphazardly about the ring, a dazed look in its large, round eyes.

"Hiccup!" The boy heard someone calling his name, and turned to see Stoick smiling down at him from outside the ring.

Smiling awkwardly back at his father, Hiccup readjusted his helmet, which had once belonged to his mother, Valhallarama, although not as a helmet.

Grabbing a shield, Hiccup then proceeded to duck down behind one of the many wooden barriers which were spaced unevenly around the arena as cover for the Viking combatants.

Noticing that Astrid was now stalking the Gronckle, waiting for the opportune moment to strike, Hiccup's mind suddenly went into overdrive.

If he were to lose this fight to the Viking girl, his father would probably never let him forget it, especially not considering that he had been doing so well until now.

Also, part of him still saw Astrid in the fantasy way; he could not help wanting to impress her, to show off his new dragon-fighting talents.

But the one thing which worried him more than both of these reasons combined was the thought that the poor Gronckle might get hurt; Hiccup would never be able to forgive himself for being even _indirectly_ responsible for any pain the dragon suffered here.

And in one brief moment, the decision was made.

Quickly vaulting over the single barrier separating him from the Gronckle, Hiccup dashed towards the poor beast, which was now swaying from side to side in mid-air.

It seemed to be almost sick...but Hiccup would look into this later.

Dropping his axe, the boy quietly whistled the particular tone which he used with Toothless to induce a safe and secure feeling in the dragon's mind.

The Gronckle turned lethargically towards him, a confused look on its pudgy face, before Hiccup quickly reached up and scratched the soft spot common to _all_ of the fire-breathing beasties.

The dragon's eyes rolled back into its head, and the great beast flopped to the ground on its side, one rear leg kicking back with pleasure.

Only a brief moment of respite was awarded to the victor, as he suddenly jumped at the sound of Astrid's war cry.

"Yeaaaaaaaahhhh!" Now more nervous than he had been for the last hour, Hiccup turned to see the blond Viking falter, her look turning from one of forceful aggression to a moment of confused silence.

And the crowd erupted in cheers.

Hiccup looked at Astrid, gesturing from himself to the pacified Gronckle, as though trying to plead with her.

"NO! NO!" Astrid yelled, her face quickly changing to an enraged look of disappointment.

"SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT EATING, MUNGE-BUCKET...!" She shouted in anger, swinging her axe wildly.

In a feeble and utterly futile attempt to avoid what he knew what was coming next, Hiccup tried to sneak out.

"So...later–" But Gobber, who had by now made his way back into the ring, quickly grabbed the boy by the scruff of his neck.

"Not so fast!" "I'm kind of late for..." Hiccup cast around wildly for an excuse, but didn't get anywhere fast, as he was suddenly swung around to find a crazed Astrid holding her axe at to his neck.

"_What_?" she demanded angrily. "Late for _what, _exactly?" But Hiccup had no time to begin formulating an answer in his mind, as he heard his father's voice calling "OK, quiet down! Quiet down! The elder has decided!" And that was it.

Hiccup had blown it.

He knew exactly what was coming next, and as Gobber pulled him away from the mad blonde, whose axe had almost taken his head off several times now, he could tell that she knew too.

But both Hiccup and Astrid now hoped that the latter would be chosen, albeit for entirely different reasons.

Looking back up at his father, Hiccup saw the village elder at Stoick's side, about to choose his fate.

Gobber first held his hand over Astrid's head, and the blond Viking stared up at the old woman hopefully.

But it was not to be.

The elder shook her head with a dejected look.

And, as Gobber then pointed to Hiccup, the boy felt a great wave of fear pass over him.

The elder nodded, and smiled.

As a huge roar of cheering erupted from around to ring, with everyone present shouting their congratulations to the boy who had won, the great Belch yelled excitedly "Oh, yeh've done it! Yeh've done it Hiccup! Yeh get te kill the dragon!" But Hiccup shuddered inwardly as he turned to look at the girl whom he had just bested in dragon training.

Astrid was livid, lips white, her face contorted with barely-suppressed rage.

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><p><em>Getting quite intense, eh? <em>

_As usual, next chapter in a week. _

_And another little thing; if any of you other writers ever get serious writers block, or simply can't find the inspiration to put pet to paper (or fingers to keyboard, as it were), I find listening to suitable music really helps. _

_I wrote the entirety of chapter two to the sound of Richard Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries and Vangelis' Chariots of Fire. _

_Lumpyness._


	5. Chapter Five

_Another week has come and gone, and it's time for another chapter update!_

_Enjoy!_

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><p><strong>Chapter Five: Wounds of the Spirit<strong>

As the next few days dragged by, Astrid found herself thinking obsessively about Hiccup's secret.

Her initial anger at the insolent boy's victory over her in the dragon training arena was gone...for now.

And replacing it was a bizarre mixture of previously inconceivable jealousy and deepest curiosity.

Of these two emotions, the former was a Viking reliance, but the latter one entirely foreign and quite frankly, most unwanted.

Once, she did have a single moment of self awareness, noticing how odd it was that she now spent so much time thinking about the boy, especially considering how much of a nothing that he had been in the past.

One afternoon, Astrid was sitting with the gang out in the meadow behind Berk, deep in contemplation.

Fishlegs and the others were all discussing Hiccup's amazing win over the Gronckle, and how it had so easily succumbed to his touch, without showing any aggression at all.

He just seemed to have this..._way_ with the beasts.

Astrid blinked, her mind slowly noticing that someone was trying to get her attention.

"Yoo-hoo! Astrid?"

Her head snapped around to Tuffnut. "What?" she shot irritably.

"I was just saying," began the blond Viking boy, "Hiccup's better than you ever were –" His sentence was cut short by a punch and snarl from his sister, and the twins engaged immediately in a violent tussle, intent on tearing out each other's hair.

"Take no notice of them, Astrid," said Snotlout in with pathetic attempt at sugar-coating his words. "I thought you were _just great_ in the ring."

The teen Viking shifted a little closer to Astrid, hoping that she wouldn't notice.

"Mpf..." Astrid merely grunted, entirely unimpressed, and went straight back to her train of thought, leaving Snotlout quite put-off.

"What's going on with you, Astrid?" asked Fishlegs, a slightly worried look on his pudgy features. "You talk so little these days."

"She's just jealous of Hiccup's success –" teased Tuffnut, resurfacing briefly from the swirling melee with his sister to make a snide comment, before once again having his head pummelled into the ground.

"'Legs has a point, Astrid," put in Snotlout, and, for the first time in ages, without that sickening attempt at a pick-up tone that he usually used.

"This is so not...Astrid. Normally you'd be all too happy to discuss Hiccup's weird behaviour, and how he's always disappearing off into the forest –" Snotlout continued, before being cut off by Fishlegs.

"Yeah. As soon as we were finished in the ring the other day, he was gone. Took off straight into the forest, heading towards Raven's Point. I think that's where he's gone now."

Astrid had only been listening in part to 'Legs and 'Lout talking to her, but had been paying enough attention for that last sentence to have registered in her mind.

"Towards Raven's Point..." she murmured, eyes fixed on the ground.

The other two still paying attention glanced at each other furtively, and Fishlegs said cautiously "Astrid, seriously, is everything alright?" But once again, Astrid's moment of realisation was both sudden and unexpected, especially not by either Snotlout _or _Fishlegs.

The pair of them jumped with surprise as the blond Viking before them leapt to her feet, an unfamiliar look of comprehension dawning slowly on her face.

Running off through the green grass back towards Berk, Astrid was faintly heard calling "I'll see you later!" Fishlegs and Snotlout stared for a moment at her retreating figure, and then at each other, both utterly perplexed.

Snotlout shook his head.

"Has the world gone _completely_ mad?

Astrid jogged up the hill through Berk, heading towards the chief's house, her mind totally focused, thinking things over.

On the night of the last dragon raid, Hiccup had claimed to have shot down one of the most mysterious and feared dragons of all, a Night Fury.

_"It went down just off Raven's Point! Let's get a search party out there, and -" _As usual, no-one had listened to the boy's incessant babbling, and Stoick had simply given his son a sever telling off in front of the entire village, sending him home in disgrace.

But for Astrid, however, two things about what Hiccup had said now, strangely, began to sound plausible.

A Night Fury, and Raven's Point.

A Night Fury!

Astrid could scarcely believe that the great black beast upon which Hiccup had ridden was the most dangerous and feared dragons known to Vikings.

Astrid's second realisation, however, was both far simpler and had much more immediate consequences.

If Hiccup was out at Raven's Point, then he wasn't at home.

"_Odin forgive me for what I am about to do,_" the girl thought nervously to herself.

Reaching the chieftain's house, Astrid quickly checked to see that no-one was watching, before slipping quietly inside.

Viking's saw no need to lock their doors, as mutual trust was meant to be an inherent part of their culture.

Theft, along with betrayal and surrender, was one of the worst atrocities a Viking could commit.

But it wasn't like Astrid had any intention of stealing anything; she simply wanted to find out what it was that made Hiccup tick.

Admittedly, there did not seem to be a downside for Hiccup in the betrayal of his tribe and new-found friendship with one of its arch enemies.

But surely the instinctive power of self-preservation present in all Vikings would had been enough to hold him back from even making contact with the black dragon...wouldn't it?

Apparently not.

Astrid had only ever been in the chief's house once before, and that was a long time ago, while she was still very young.

At roughly the age of six, she and Hiccup had gone, or rather_, _been sent up the stairs to Hiccup's room to play together while Stoick and Astrid's parents had talked business.

Sure in the assumption that the chief's son still occupied that same room, the blond Viking girl made her way nimbly up the staircase and, upon reaching the top, cautiously opened the door to her immediate left; Hiccup's room.

Closing the door gently behind her, Astrid turned and surveyed the room before her with keen eyes.

The early afternoon light seeped gently in through the single window, which looked out over the green meadow behind Berk.

Through this opening came an unusually warm breeze, fluttering the many pictures and paintings which hung from the walls.

A few items of clothing hanging off the end of the bed also shifted a little with the air currents.

The room was, overall, very tidy, with only the things which Hiccup used more frequently sprawled over his working bench.

For a Viking of his age, Hiccup was an unusually diligent person when it came to neatness.

Moving over to the table, Astrid examined the items which lay there.

A loose collection of sheets of scribble parchment, some used some not, a mug half-filled with water, several sticks of charcoal used for drawing, and a pair of leather-bound books.

Picking up the loose sheets of parchment, Astrid began to flick through them, one at a time.

The first two were blank, and the next few were covered in rough sketches of several machines and contraptions which she had seen before, such as the bola-thrower, with which Hiccup had claimed to have shot down the Night Fury.

Even as draft copies, the detail and effort which Hiccup had used was quite impressive.

But if Astrid had found these drawings intriguing, the next few were that extra bit incredible.

The young Viking girl now found herself looking at sketches of what was unmistakably a dragon's tail-fin.

Only they weren't; these were actually highly detailed designs of how to build an equivalent fin from leather and light metal.

And if the detail in the other images was excessive, it was nothing in comparison with the highly intricate drawings of the Night Fury's left tail-fin upon which she now looked with wonder.

"Of course..." Astrid murmured, eyes glazing over as she thought back to the great clearing where she had seen Hiccup with the dragon.

And although the Viking girl had indeed noticed it at the time, it had not then clicked for Astrid that the artificial fin which was attached to the Night Fury's tail was actually in replacement of the natural one, which would otherwise have been there.

"_Perhaps...he crippled it when he shot it down_," mused Astrid quietly, staring at the sketches, deep in thought.

Perhaps a part of what had driven Hiccup to gain the dragon's trust was a sense of guilt and regret at what he had done to the beast.

Astrid thought back to one of Gobber's earlier teachings.

The chief's son had indeed been present when the recruits' trainer had mentioned that _"A downed dragon...is a dead dragon."_ But the only issue seemed to be that the Night Fury was now dependent on having a human rider to retain the power of flight.

Such a situation would, undoubtedly, require a special bond between human and dragon, something more than just trust; a real friendship and closeness.

Placing the sheets of parchment back down onto the desk, Astrid now picked up one of the bound leather books, opening it timidly.

Afterwards, the teenage Viking would look back and see that she wasn't intentionally encroaching on Hiccup's privacy; she had simply been curious about what drove the young boy on.

Inside the cover there was nothing aside from Hiccup's signature scrawled in the bottom left corner.

Turning over the first page, Astrid at first wondered why the page appeared to be totally blank...until she noticed a single date in the top corner of the page, marking a time several months previously.

The second page contained another date, and also a small amount of other writing indicating the occurrence of some significant event.

Clearly, this was a diary.

Hiccup's diary.

Astrid began to read, quickly at first, skimming by the pages, taking barely any notice of what she was looking at.

But, gradually, phrases began to jump out at her from the page.

"_No-one understands … I was just trying to help carry the fish out …_" "_They must really hate me. All they ever do is laugh at me..._" "_They could at least try and tell me what I'm doing wrong … instead of simply spiting me._" Occasionally Astrid would notice that parts of the more emotional sentences were smudged and smeared, the parchment crinkled as though it had once been wet … perhaps with tears?

Astrid's hand went to her mouth, and her heart pounded with guilt as the sentences became more and more emotionally powerful, sagging with the full weight of a young boy's inner pain.

Finally, Astrid arrived at a page dated no further than a few weeks ago.

And although the entry contained only one word, the message it gave had a truly profound meaning.

"_Toothless._" Looking over the next pages, Astrid saw that the diary entries no longer contained words, but pictures, little images of what Hiccup was experiencing.

Grand sunsets along the coast were exquisitely captured and contained in simple charcoal lines, dense pine-forests found a new meaning to life in a master's art, and an immense flock of dragons soared effortlessly over a seemingly infinite oceanic expanse, every wing and tail drawn to perfection.

It seemed that, for Astrid, Hiccup had just re-defined the meaning of beauty.

A sudden slamming sound brought Astrid sharply back to herself.

As the great beat of time returned to its normal pace, the Viking girl could hear the sounds of someone coming up the stairs outside the bedroom.

Panic, along with many other rushed feelings now flowed through Astrid, and she quickly placed the book back on the desk, now searching desperately for somewhere to hide.

Pausing for a moment, she noticed the unusual humour of the situation.

She, Astrid, was afraid of direct confrontation with Hiccup – But, out of time and out of mind, Astrid now heard the door creak, and turned to see the wooden beams swing wide.

And into the room walked none other than the boy in question, the un-Viking upon which all of her thoughts for the past few weeks had been focussed.

Hiccup.

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><p><em>Now, I have a request for you all, a question that needs answering.<em>

_At the rate of one chapter per week, you're going to catch up very quickly with where I'm currently writing at._

_My question is this; would you prefer me to cut back the update rate to one chapter every second week so as to keep the regularity of the uploads possible for much longer, or should I just stick with updating every Sunday?_

_Bear in mind that the latter option will mean that as soon as you catch up with where_ _I'm currently writing at, there will be longer waiting times, and certainly no regularity._

_Please tell me what you think by review._

_And once again, thank you all for the positive comments and constructive criticism!_

_I really do take not and appreciate it!_

_Lumpyness._


	6. Chapter Six

_Time for another chapter!_

_Now, because of the new updating timetable I'm using, things are getting a little complicated, and someone mentioned that I should perhaps give a short summary at the start of each chapter covering what happened in the important parts of the previous chapter, and given that I'm now updated every second week, I think this is a brilliant idea!_

_Last time, we saw Astrid feeling quite curious and still a little jealous as to what was making Hiccup tick. So this little girl stole into Hiccup's room to have a search through his things, discovering along the way that the boy was emotionally damaged. However, Hiccup turns up right at the end, and Astrid's going to have to try and explain herself.  
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_Enjoy!**  
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><p><strong>Chapter Six: Confrontation<strong>

Hiccup just stood there, staring at the blond Viking girl standing in the middle of his room... his room!

Privacy may not have been something which Vikings paid an excessive amount of attention to, but this was going too far.

In spite of his natural surprise at such an intrusive meeting, Hiccup noticed in only a brief moment a great many things about the girl who now stood before him.

But the most obvious and also bizarre observation he made was that Astrid looked like she had just been…crying.

_Crying?_

Those were unmistakably the traces of tears lining her smooth face.

But...Astrid..._crying?_

No. _No_, Surely not.

"What are you doing here?" Hiccup demanded, summoning as much courage into these words as he possibly could.

The boy may have been terrified of open conversation with Astrid in any situation, but this was his house, his home, his very own room.

The one place where he was _meant_ to feel safe and secure, free from the prying eyes of the villagers and protected from their scornful laughter.

Of course, the clearing in the forest where Toothless resided now felt more homely than any other place he knew of, but Hiccup didn't _live_ there.

However, if Astrid was in his room..._what had she been doing in here_?

Quite suddenly, the girl took a step forward, her face hardened and determined.

"I wanna know what's going on," she said in a poor attempt at a sarcastically detached tone, perhaps intended to be in parody of the brown-haired boy's own manner.

"No-one just _gets_ as good as you," she continued, "_Especially_ you." Hiccup just looked at her, completely taken aback.

After all this time...why would she wait until now to challenge the origins of his newfound skills with dragons?

"Start talking," Astrid's voice snapped like a whip now, her anger bubbling to the surface.

"Are you training with someone? It had better not involve _this_ –" she made a move to reach and grab Hiccup's riding harness, which he had forgotten to take off earlier, but the boy knocked her hand away and took a step back, his own face going stony.

"It's none of your business," he stated coolly.

This was truly frightening.

He, Hiccup, was standing up to Astrid, holding his ground against her attack.

Withdrawing her hand, Astrid tilted her head slightly to one side, a queer smile slowly making its way over her smooth features.

"I think it is," she returned quietly, still evidently quite annoyed. "You beat me in dragon training."

This was so...Astrid, thought Hiccup to himself, smiling inwardly.

The ego, the mind play, the perhaps unintentional attempt at seduction, all were meant to make the boy drop his guard and falter.

But it would not work; it _could _not work...

Not now.

"Well noticed," Hiccup remarked drily, angering Astrid further. Soon it would be she who would be making the slip-ups.

"Rephrase; Hiccup, you placed first in dragon training," the blond Viking snarled at him.

But Hiccup was not menaced.

"And I'll bet you'd like to how, eh?" he spoke distinctly, now taking a step forward.

His face was only a few feet from Astrid's.

Rarely had they been this close before, yet still so distant...

The girl just scoffed.

"I already do."

"Fair enough," Hiccup conceded, leaving Astrid completely taken aback.

She had obviously expected a somewhat fearful response from the boy, perhaps even a brief return of the old Hiccup...the _real _Hiccup.

"I thought you might have known," Hiccup continued, now smiling broadly.

"And you know something else? _I don't care_." He thought he could almost see the cogs turning in Astrid's mind as she sought desperately for something to throw back at him.

"How...what – Hiccup, your final exam is tomorrow," she blurted out suddenly, not a trace of any anger left in her voice, evidently quite confused that Hiccup had not fallen into her trap.

"You _know_ you're going to have to kill a dragon!"

This knocked the smile off of the young boy's face, and, for the first time in the conversation, he looked away.

"I know …" he mumbled bitterly.

"And how do you expect to do that, given that you now have one of those..._monsters_ as your pet –"

"He's not my pet," Hiccup cut in harshly, looking back at Astrid, now starting to feel the anger rise within himself.

"He's my friend."

"Right, yeah...one of those disgusting pests? Your _friend_? Don't make me laugh. You've never had a real friend in your life!" If Astrid was now trying to wind him up, she was certainly doing a very good job of it.

Taking another step forward, Hiccup's face contorted with barely suppressed rage.

"And whose fault is that?" he snarled, his face now mere inches away from Astrid's.

Hiccup's anger was slowly reaching a critical point, beyond which he didn't know what would happen.

"All my life I've had to put up with insults, snide comments, scorn and outright mistrust!" His voice shook audibly, and it was now Astrid who was on the back foot, quite literally, as she stepped backwards, a look of genuine shock on her face.

Never before had she seen Hiccup become this angry.

No-one had.

"I've had to put up with so much suffering at your hands, just trying to fit in! All I ever wanted was to be properly accepted as part of the village, but now, I don't even want that!"

He was shouting now.

"I've finally got someone who actually accepts me for who I AM, not who I should be! I've found someone who sees me not as the butt of endless jokes and harsh comments, but as a friend and equal! And you know something _else_?" The boy paused for just a second to catch his breath.

Astrid was now obviously completely shocked, once again on the verge of tears.

"It's _wonderful_!" Having backed her into the corner of his room, Hiccup now just stood there, letting his rage get the better of him.

She had to feel it!

She had to know what it was like!

"All my life I've been told that dragons were vicious, evil, heartless and cruel beasts with no other purpose in life than killing Vikings! But now I see that _you_ _Vikings_ do a far better job at destroying lives!" Astrid bit her lip, a single tear forming in her eye.

So much for not showing any weaknesses, Hiccup thought viciously for a moment.

"Toothless has shown me more love and compassion than you lot _ever_ did, and you're supposed to be my tribe!" In spite of his rage, Hiccup himself now began to cry.

"The arch enemy of Vikings has now become closer to me than anyone I've _ever_ known, even my own father!" Hiccup had now reached his emotional limits, the peak of his fury, the eye of the storm.

For a few moments he just stood there, shaking with anger, entirely speechless.

Having now lost most of his sense of self awareness, Hiccup now fired up again.

"How could you know what...how could you even _begin_ to understand what life has been like for me here?" Every single one of Hiccup's emotions had now been eclipsed by one, omnipotent feeling; hatred for not only every Viking, but every _human_ he had ever known.

But, in spite of this he was still Hiccup.

Regaining his self control was not something Hiccup had had to do very often, and hence he did find it seriously difficult.

But thankfully not impossible.

Breathing deeply, Hiccup clenched his teeth, biting back his next words, determined not to let any more of his rage be released upon the quivering girl before him.

Yes, she needed to know what he thought, what he felt, what he had for so long kept pent up inside of him.

But this...

This was too much by _any_ stretch.

Turning away, Hiccup saw Astrid timidly reach out to touch him, her face now plagued with guilt and sorrow, but still marred by that ever persistent hint of pride and jealousy.

But he pushed her away, both physically and emotionally.

"Let me tell you something else," Hiccup spoke, his voice now a low growl.

"Tomorrow I'm going show everyone what I've experienced with dragons...what I now understand about them. I'm going to make the village of Berk finally see what it has, for all this time, blinded itself to...the truth; that dragons are intelligent, loving and naturally gentle creatures who deserve to be treated with respect and as equals."

Hiccup now noticed that Astrid had been cautiously making her way towards the door, trying to escape without further strife.

A single thought now crossed the boy's mind, along with a wicked smile; he would indeed let her go, but not without one final message.

"And don't even _consider_ trying to stop me," he snarled, now turning back towards Astrid, who froze in the doorway, a genuine look of fear in her blue eyes.

"What I am trying to do here is for the good of all Vikings," Hiccup continued, temporarily adopting his normal tone.

"And if you try and mess things up, _then you're no better than the rest of them_." Ending with a short, sharp whip of a voice, the boy thought he saw a small look of defiance in Astrid's eyes, momentary, yet almost definitely present.

"Now GET OUT!" He shouted suddenly, causing the blond Viking girl to instantly scarper, closing the door sharply behind her.

Now alone in his room, Hiccup began to think rationally once again, his mind shifting its focus back to what was most important.

He had to push his fury to one side and force it lie still in the back corner of his mind to make room from for what came next.

Tomorrow was the day he had to overcome his fear and show to the villagers what he had learned.

Hiccup had to prove to the Vikings of Berk that everything they know about dragons...was wrong.

As the tide of rage slowly ebbed, leaving the beach of reason and the sands of logic stretched bare along the coast of his mind, Hiccup slumped into his work chair, both physically _and_ mentally exhausted.

Anger, the boy mused, was a terrifically draining emotion.

He felt almost non-existent now, completely worn out.

Hiccup had been giving serious thought to simply leaving the village.

Berk didn't seem hold _any_ future of _any_ kind for him _any_more.

In fact, the boy had been returning home for what he had thought would be the last time, just to grab some clothes and supplies for his self-exile.

But the sudden, unexpected meeting with that nosy blonde had caused him to rethink what the best course of action to take was.

It had made him utilise a form of inner force and willpower which he didn't even know existed, and this, somehow, gave him hope.

Maybe...just _maybe_ he could, for once, get something right; perhaps he could _really_ make peace between Vikings and dragons.

But, try as he might, the young boy could not stop thinking about Astrid.

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><p><em>So, once again, please review and comment to your hearts' content; all feedback is appreciated!<em>

_Next chapter in two weeks._

_Lumpyness._


	7. Chapter Seven

_Enjoy!_

_Oh, and:_

_Previously, on the Traitor..._

_Astrid, tired of simply sitting around wondering where Hiccup's newfound talents were stemming from, decided to invade the boy's privacy and search his room._

_There, she finds many beautiful and emotional pieces of art and writing, all of which go to her heart and begin to fill her with twinges of sorrow and guilt at what she and the others are doing to him._

_She is, however, found by Hiccup, and he rages at her with a force never witnessed before by anyone, not even Hiccup himself._

_After Astrid leaves (practically in tears), Hiccup does his best to calm himself, but is nevertheless in a state of agitation concerning his upcoming fight-to-the-death with a dragon in front of the whole village, and can't seem to stop thinking about Astrid...  
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><p><strong>Chapter Seven: The Fight<strong>

Astrid awoke with a start, the morning light creeping balefully in through her window, casting dim shadows across the floor.

In spite of the earliness of the hour, the Viking girl knew that she would not now be able to fall back into the blissful ignorance of sleep; the previous evening's events were horribly fresh and sharp in her mind's eye.

Astrid climbed slowly out of bed and began to dress, her physical speed in stark contrast with her thoughts, which now raced as fast as a howling gale.

Completely oblivious to the morning cold, she then walked over to the window.

Gazing out over the village of Berk, still only half-lit by the sun's rays, Astrid continued to turn the thoughts over in her head.

Plagued by indecision, self-doubt and insane, chaotic notions, she shook her head sadly and went back to preparing for the day ahead.

A great many emotions now fought for space in her mind, each one more powerful than the last.

And it was with a strange mixture of pride, guilt and even some sadness that Astrid noted which feeling seemed to hold sway over the others.

Hiccup was a lying, worthless little cheat who didn't deserve the right...no, the _honour_ of killing a dragon.

She, Astrid, should be the one.

After all, she was a _real_ warrior, a _true_ Viking.

Jealously was an entirely foreign feeling for Astrid, one that she was having serious trouble controlling, or even understanding.

As the time of the fight fast approached, the Viking girl found herself walking out to the ring earlier than would otherwise be expected.

Many of the villagers had already congregated around the arena, eager for the final battle of the dragon training season to begin.

Eager to see a dragon's blood spilled.

Walking down the stone path towards the training ring, Astrid lashed out at a nearby rock, momentarily allowing her anger to get the better of her.

Unfortunately, though, it was the little stone wedged tightly in the ground that succeeded in getting the better of the girl's foot.

Cursing under her breath, her toe now throbbing with pain, Astrid could do nothing better than blame Hiccup.

She would get him for that...and everything else, too.

Just as her feelings of jealousy began to rise within her again, the blond Viking teenager noticed Hiccup's father, Stoick the Vast, chief of the tribe, now arriving at the arena.

A sudden urge seemed to slap Astrid in the face like a cold, wet, Icelandic cod.

This was it!

This was her chance for...revenge.

It was a scary thought, and one that the spiteful Viking would otherwise have pushed to one side.

But right now, she didn't care.

Making a beeline for the chief, Astrid now forcefully pulled her thoughts into line.

They would have to behave if she was going to try and convince Stoick of his son's betrayal.

But she, Astrid, would have to remain entirely neutral.

It must _not _seem as thought she was being driven by nothing more petty jealousy.

She would argue purely with logic, talk with the facts, and sway him with reason..._just like Hiccup would._

If there was one thing which she knew Stoick was not, it was dumb.

Now approaching her chief, Astrid pulled herself together, not faltering for a single moment.

"...and there we were, tangled in the sheets, trying desperately to extract ourselves from –" Stoick had been chatting with several other adult Vikings, a broad grin covering his face, visible even underneath his colossal beard.

But they instantly ceased their chortling upon noticing that Astrid was approaching.

"Er...chief? Could I please speak with you?" The young girl asked, summoning as much politeness as possible into her voice.

"Of c-course," said Stoick heartily, now wiping tears of laughter from his eyes. "Wha' is it, lass?"

"In private, please?" Astrid now asked, almost pleading with him.

Stoick's smile instantly vanished; as an observant leader, he could always tell when something was seriously amiss.

"Very well," he assented, gesturing for Astrid to lead the way.

The pair walked until well out of earshot of any of the other Vikings, before Astrid turned to face him, taking a deep breath.

"Chief –" she began, but was instantly cut off by the giant of a man who stood before her.

"It'll be first name terms, o' nought Astrid," he stated firmly.

"Tha's Stoick, by the way," he added with a smile, and Astrid's confidence received a huge boost.

"Alright...Stoick. What I'm about to tell you may sound...er...insane, unbelievable...like...like a lie," she began again.

"But, please, hear me out. Let me speak, _then_ make a decision on my truthfulness. Not before." The chief nodded quietly, and Astrid could tell he was sincere.

"Your son...is a traitor." She could not help but falter as the look on Stoick's face hardened a little.

"He has befriended one of our arch enemies...a dragon. He's...tamed it, learned to ride it, and gained its trust. It's how he's –" Astrid stopped, as the chief began to chuckle.

"Oh, come on missy!" he laughed.

"I know that you're not happy about him beating you in the ring, but that's no reason to –"

"Chief, please believe me!" Astrid had never felt so bold, or rather _brash _before in her life; interrupting the chief!

"He's got one of them as his pet!" Now she was really pleading "A Night Fury...it's how he's become so adept at subduing the beasts. He's got a source of knowledge that –"

"No," Stoick stated bluntly, his smile vanishing once again without a trace.

He now looked very stern, and, despite her attempts, Astrid could not hold his gaze.

"I've heard enough," he growled.

"This, _Astrid_, is going too far. Lying about your fellow Vikings? About my _son_? Just to soothe your wounded pride?" He turned away dismissively, and Astrid knew that the conversation was well and truly over.

"I'll hear no more of this," Stoick stated simply, looking back over his shoulder at the girl, now cowering in the corner of her mind.

Never before had Astrid felt so mean and insignificant.

Hiccup was walking slowly backwards, holding the Nightmare's gaze as the great dragon advanced up him.

Practically the entire village had turned out to see the fight, and Astrid shuddered at their calls; "Go on Hiccup! Give it to 'em!"

She watched with fear as the monstrous beast continued to back Hiccup towards the wall.

Whatever she wanted, whatever she felt, whatever she thought was right, it all seemed irrelevant now.

Regardless of _anything_, she had not wanted any harm to come to the boy.

But if his word was anything to go by, what she was about to witness would truly be...something else.

Dropping his knife and shield, Hiccup continued to step backwards, now holding the palms of his hands up to the Nightmare, in what was obviously intended as a gesture of peace.

The crowd started to murmur..."What is he doing?" "Madness!"

Glancing over at Stoick, Astrid saw that the chief was now staring directly across the arena at her.

Putting on her best "_I told you so_" face, the Viking girl returned his hardened look with a grimace.

The crowd was now completely silent, as the Nightmare lowered its aggressive stance, now sniffing curiously at the boy before it.

"It's OK, it's OK..." Hiccup's voice was now audible throughout the entire arena.

"I'm not going to hurt you." Reaching up, the young boy now slowly removed his helmet, tossing it purposefully to one side.

"I'm not one of _them_."

The crowd gasped, and a great many heads now turned to the chief, who was now staring down at Hiccup, clearly shocked at what his son was doing.

"Stop the fight," Stoick boomed in a commanding tone that everyone present could hear.

"No!" Hiccup returned, not taking his eyes from the dragon before him. "I need you _all _to see this."

Astrid suddenly noticed that she was gripping the railings around the arena so hard that her knuckles were sheet white.

The dragon no longer seemed to feel threatened or angry in any way, but this did nothing to curb the Viking girls own fear...which only raised another question, indeed, a strangely familiar one; fear of what?

"They're not what we think they are," continued Hiccup, his voice echoing around the silent ring.

"We don't have to kill them."

The entire village now stared fixatedly at boy and dragon, utterly entranced by what they were witnessing.

Stoick, who by this time had half risen from his chair, slowly seated himself again, his eyes dark and brooding.

And as Hiccup slowly extended his hand towards the dragon, everyone held their breath.

His hand drew nearer and nearer, closer and closer, until finally...

He touched it.

As Hiccup rested his hand on the Nightmare's face, the great beast's eyes softened, and it tilted its head one side.

Closing its eyes, the dragon began to make what seemed to be a purring noise; a deep, soothing, rhythmical humming.

Hiccup now moved to stand beside the Monstrous Nightmare, gently stroking the beast's head, as the dragon slumped to the ground, as peaceful as was possible.

Nobody moved.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody uttered a single word...or made any sort of noise at all.

Complete silence reigned.

The boy in the middle of the arena, who had so effectively captured everyone's eyes, now knelt down beside the dragon's head, softly scratching its scaly hide as the beast purred contentedly.

Then, he did something completely unexpected.

Whispering something into the dragon's ear, Hiccup then got back to his feet, his hand still resting on the Nightmare's brow.

Walking over to the beast's cage, Hiccup drew the dragon's curious eyes with him.

Slowly unlocking the great metal doors, little Hiccup the Useless just smiled as the Monstrous Nightmare waddled drunkenly back into its abode, settling itself on the floor of its den, still purring contentedly.

Taking care to quietly close and lock the door again, Hiccup then walked back out into the centre of the ring.

"I will never kill a dragon as long as I live," he stated to everyone present, his voice full of conviction and purpose, "because I don't need to.

I have looked into the eyes of a dragon and perceived what it truly is. Not an evil, vicious, soulless killer, but a kind, intelligent and loving creature, whose gentle nature comforted me, gave me consolation in my time of need...and showed me the meaning of hope."

Hiccup paused, letting his words settle and take root in the minds of those who listened.

"Having so long been conditioned to think like _true_ Vikings, I can see that what I am now suggesting is quite difficult to accept. But...I want you ALL to understand this, as I do."

Suddenly realising that she was still standing at the edge of the arena, Astrid noticed that, once again, she had tears in her eyes, and was not at all surprised to see that the other Viking teens now looked as equally as mournful; clearly, Hiccup's compelling speech had had a profound effect upon them...and not just them.

Everyone present, even those villagers whose emotions normally remained hidden beneath a stubborn, resilient and unyielding demeanour, was feeling the full force of what Hiccup had laid out, clear for all to see.

The only Viking who was not moved...indeed the only one who did not look even remotely affected, was the chief.

* * *

><p><em>I'll bet you're all excited to see how he reacts, and how the whole situation turns out! Please let me know if there's something you think I'm not getting quite right.<br>_

_Now, I have a question; my current sections of writing deal with describing a few of the dragons' characteristics in more detail, and I want a poll of popular opinion...what exactly causes a Night Fury's scream?_

_My guess was the allignment of the flaps of skin below their ears, and that's what I've gone with so far, but I'm open to better ideas, as is evident by this request for advice._

_Next chapter in two weeks!_

_Lumpyness._


	8. Chapter Eight

_Merry Christmas all!_

_As a bit of a present to all you eager readers, I'm putting the next chapter up one day early._

_Enjoy!_

_Oh, and by the way..._

_In that last chapter we saw Hiccup "fighting" the Nightmare in the training ring with the entire population of Berk watching. But instead of actually fighting the dragon, the boy calms and befriends it, sending it back to its den, before returning to the crowd. "I will never kill a dragon as long as I live." Astrid and the rest of the gang, along with most of the village are in awe at Hiccup's actions, but Stoick seems unimpressed.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Eight: Aftermath<strong>

Stoick stood up abruptly, staring down at Hiccup in the ring.

The boy looked back up at his father, determined to get his point across, to make him see the light.

For a moment, the chief did nothing but glare at his son with clenched fists and stony eyes.

Then he let out a heavy breath, and spoke with a commanding voice "I want all the village seniors in the mead hall to discuss this..._event_." He almost spat out this last word, before turning and marching away towards the village, followed closely by the elders of the tribe.

Hiccup had not expected any sort of warm acceptance from his father at the revelation that the little misfit had befriended a dragon.

But this total refusal to acknowledge that what Hiccup had achieved was something truly profound was indicative that something far more sinister was at play.

As the entire village began to move as though awakening from a deeply captivating trance, everyone present began to disperse, murmuring and muttering to each other; the general mood was one of deepest confusion.

Hiccup now walked towards the gate, keeping his gaze level and fixed, trying not to let the bizarre mixture of elation and frustration within him loose.

Slowly but surely, the entire crowd dissolved, with villagers heading back to Berk in small groups, all caught up in discussion.

As the boy made his way out of the arena, he caught sight of Gobber.

The meathead was looking at Hiccup as though he had just grown a third head.

But, catching the look of uncertain apprehension on boy's face, the trainer gave him a cautious smile, unsure how to treat the situation.

"Well that was..." The scrawny boy turned to see Ruffnut and the other teens walking over towards him, all looking as though Hiccup had just doused them with a bucket of frigid water.

All except for Astrid.

The blond Viking girl trailed slowly behind the rest of the group, looking almost fearfully at Hiccup.

The chief's son gave her a small frown before turning back to the rest of the teens, just as Ruffnut struggled to finish her sentence. "...that was...really just...Hiccup, why in Thor's name–"

But Hiccup held up his hand to silence her.

"I can probably guess what you're all thinking right now..." he said slowly, placing a great deal of emphasis on these words, "but please believe me when I say that what I trying to do here is for the greater good of everyone, Vikings and dragons alike."

He spoke these words with complete confidence, now certain that he would no longer be simply disregarded and pushed to one side.

The twins just stared at him in awe.

"You're crazy..." said Ruffnut at length, before smiling and batting her eyelids at the boy.

"I like that."

Hiccup noticed Astrid's eyes narrow at this occurrence, but she said nothing.

Pushing his twin-sister to one side, Tuffnut grinned toothily at Hiccup.

"You are SO –" but what he was he never found out, for Tuffnut was now pushed out of the way by the bulk of Fishlegs, who looked at Hiccup with some kind of newfound respect.

"Do you know what you just did?" the chubby boy asked, utterly flabbergasted.

Hiccup smiled.

"It's not over yet," he stated simply.

"Even if the chief and the village elders decide to accept what I've been trying to say as true, it's going to be a long time before _anyone_ around here will begin to trust a dragon at all."

But the part of this sentence that had the greatest effect on those around Hiccup was that he had referred to his father, Stoick, as just "_the chief_".

After a prolonged silence, during which the teens all stared awkwardly at the ground, and the Hiccup gazed off into space, Snotlout was the next to speak up.

"Hey umm...Hiccup?" he spoke cautiously, and the chief's son looked at brutish Viking.

He seemed to be really struggling to give voice to what he wanted to say, perhaps due to nervousness or some other factor.

"Just spit it out," Hiccup said, giving in to a fleeting moment of his old self, the characteristic goofy grin reappearing momentarily.

"Whatever it is, I've already made the conscious decision not to annoyed or offended by it in any way."

Snotlout began to laugh, but faltered when he saw the serious look on Hiccup's face.

"You...you're not joking?"

Hiccup shook his head.

But, just as it seemed like Snotlout was about to try and express a part of himself that might never before have seen the light of day, they heard a shout.

"Snotlout! Get over here!"

The brutish Viking turned to see his father standing at the end of the bridge across to Berk, beckoning to his son.

"So much for that..." Hiccup murmured, as Snotlout jogged off, casting an apologetic look over his shoulder at the brown-haired boy.

Suddenly, without the apex Viking's presence, the rest of the teens didn't feel comfortable around Hiccup any more.

"Yeah...I should probably get going too..." Fishlegs mumbled, before scooting off after his friend.

The twins fidgeted a little, half swayed between not wanting to offend the chief's son and their deep-rooted feelings of disdain of the boy's strange ways.

But, in short order, they too scurried off, leaving Hiccup alone outside the dragon training arena...well, not quite alone.

Snorting derisively, Hiccup then also turned to go...not in any particular direction, mind you.

But no sooner had he started out, than he heard someone calling his name...someone had somehow not quite forgotten about, yet until now ignored.

"Hiccup, wait," Astrid spoke suddenly, pushing herself up from the wall she had been leaning against and walking cautiously over to Hiccup.

"I know that Snotlout didn't get very far in saying what he wanted to say, and that coming from me it won't mean much either, but..." she paused for effect.

"For what little it's worth, I'm sorry...for everything."

A familiar feeling began to rise once again within Hiccup, and he clenched his teeth determined not to let it get the better of him this time.

"Why would you be?"

She was just laughing at him again, the boy thought savagely.

Just trying to make fun of him once again, to wind him up.

"When did you ever care what –" but Astrid cut him off, abruptly stepping forwards, holding up her hands.

"_Exactly the same way I did with the Nightmare..._" Hiccup mused, momentarily distracted.

But this was all the time the blond Viking needed.

"Please just _listen _to me...just...please, if only for a moment," Astrid said firmly.

Her voice, strangely, sounded entirely neutral, with not a hint of _any _kind of emotion in it at all.

"Just before the fight, I...I told your father about you and the drago– Toothless," she spoke very fast, determined not to let Hiccup interrupt her.

"I was jealous...I thought that I could get back at you for placing first in dragon training over me. I honestly expected him to call the fight off..."

Her voice faded a little as Hiccup now fought harder to stop the great wave of anger from crashing on the shores of reason in his mind and once again obliterating any self-control.

"But he didn't believe me."

This was to be expected, Hiccup thought, relishing the distraction that was Astrid's words.

What reason would Stoick possibly have had to believe the apparent lies of a jealous little girl simply trying to get revenge for what, in the grand scheme of things seemed such a small matter? "And, in all truthfulness, I...I'm worried of what he might do now."

This last sentence awoke within Hiccup a twinge of fear, which slowly began to grow in his mind.

"_What will he do now? How can my father accept what I have said as true?_"

These questions frightened Hiccup more than almost anything else he had ever encountered, even more than when he had first encountered Toothless in the woods..."Hiccup?"

Astrid's voice was calling to him, but the Viking boy paid it no attention.

He was far too busy worrying about–

Then something grabbed his hand.

Someone.

Hiccup looked up with glazed eyes, to see the blond Viking girl standing only a foot away, smiling tearfully, holding his hand in hers.

"Please believe me when I say that whatever happens now...I...it's my fault."

And that was it.

If anything was going to show to Hiccup that Astrid's remorse was sincere, it would be an admission of guilt.

"_No._"Hiccup thought, pushing aside the feeling of elation that now attempted to seize control of his actions.

"_No, it can't be true...It just can't..._"

But, try as he might, Hiccup could not help but feel that young girl before him had seized a weakness in the boy's newfound hardened nature.

Astrid was not only, for the first time in living memory, admitting to having made a mistake...but also regretting it.

Hiccup now tried to avert his gaze from the face of the beautiful girl before him, mumbling something about having things to do and places to see...but failed.

Biting his lip, Hiccup now thought of something else.

How could he show this woman that the side of him that cared for his tribe was still down there, buried beneath a mountain of hurt, mistrust and rage? How could he show her that he was still...Hiccup? The answer was brutally instilled into Hiccup's mind in one moment of sickening nervousness.

He could tell her how he felt, how he _really _felt...about her.

Hiccup opened his mouth, but then closed it again, his fear getting the better of him.

Astrid still just stood there, smiling sadly at him, as if telling him _"it's OK, you can talk to me; tell me what you're thinking."_

Noticing awkwardly that his hand was still clasped in hers, the scrawny village nuisance took solace in the fact that, for the first time ever, Astrid Hofferson was not talking to him as one would a lesser, but as a real equal.

And this had a meaning among Vikings which transcended all personal beliefs, including Hiccup's own, personal opinions.

"Astrid –" the boy began again, stronger this time and determined to finish his sentence, but the blond Viking suddenly cut in as though something important had just occurred to her.

"Actually, skip it. I'm not interested in hearing you talk anymore," she stated bluntly.

And for one moment, one very short blink of time, Hiccup took her seriously.

Seeing the dawning look of unfounded outrage on the brown-haired Vikings features, Astrid's own face broke into a slight smile, and she began to giggle...although this most un-Viking practice was almost instantly halted.

"No, _no,_ so you silly –"

Astrid now fought to suppress her laughter at the horrified look on Hiccup's face; the boy himself was now tied up in mental knots, utterly confused by Astrid's behaviour.

Blowing an errant strand of hair out of her face, Astrid took advantage of Hiccup's stunned silence.

"I _know_ what you meant to say, and it's really not necessary,"

the blond Viking continued, choosing her words carefully, so as not to once again upset the socially frail boy before her.

"I don't want your forgiveness, and I _certainly_ don't deserve it."

Finally releasing Hiccup's hand, Astrid then cracked one last broad grin, and punched Hiccup fast and hard in the arm, knocking him out of his entranced state.

"_Ow!_"

he yelped, rubbing his shoulder irritably.

"That's for beating me in dragon training!" the blond Viking shot, her eyes narrowing in a mock-evil fashion.

Hiccup suddenly noticed that Astrid's face was unusually near to his.

The last time this situation arose, the boy had been mad beyond reason, releasing his pent-up emotions in one great storm, oblivious to all else.

He hadn't been afraid...then.

But this time was different.

This time, he had his wits about him; he fully was self-conscious.

In fact, Astrid's face was drawing _dangerously _close.

Of course, nervous little Hiccup was completely at a loss as to what to do.

But, as he began to feel the girl's soft, warm breath on his skin, Hiccup's mind was completely erased with a great wash of blankness.

Eyes locked together, the pair drew ever nearer...closer and closer...almost touching...

Until...

* * *

><p><em>Oooh, cliffhanger!<em>

_Two weeks people,_

Lumpyness.


	9. Chapter Nine

_Well, here we are again people, another fortnight gone, and I think you all know what that means!_

_In the last chapter we saw Hiccup exiting the arena after his taming of the Monstrous Nightmare in front of the entire village, only to be confronted by the rest of the gang. Snotlout and the others almost manage to apologise to Hiccup for the way they had treated him, but are called away at the last moment. The chief's son is left alone with Astrid, and some heated words are exchanged, with Hiccup livid that the Hofferson's daughter could have ratted him out to Stoick and messed everything up. However, when a rare show of remorse and regret from an unusually empathic Astrid manage to completely disarm the enraged dragon-rider, the two of them are left in quite an intimate situation, until...  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine: Decision<strong>

A great commotion was suddenly heard, and Astrid jerked her head away in the direction of this interruption.

Confused and agitated, she watched as a great crowd of Vikings began to storm out from the Berk mead-hall, all talking amongst one-another.

At their head was Stoick, a grave, foreboding look on his bearded face.

As the mob began to cross over the bridge towards the training ring, Astrid turned back to Hiccup, noticing the blank look on his freckly face; he had been completely disarmed by the blond Viking's sudden show of remorse...and something _else_.

To be frank, Astrid herself had been completely overtaken by a sudden surge of some strange and previously unfelt emotion.

As the young girl slowly returned to her senses, she suddenly realised how close to Hiccup she was standing; they had practically been touching.

Taking a shaky step back, Astrid opened her mouth...but closed it again, unsure of what to say.

Hiccup seemed to deflate, blinking several times, as though also coming out of some kind of trance; the moment had captured both of them entirely.

And Astrid was still not sure why.

"What...what do you think they've decided on?" whispered the Viking girl to Hiccup, but the boy just shook his head.

"I'm not sure," he replied.

"But if I know my dad, I think I'm really about to cop it; he rarely looks this serious."

The tone in Hiccup's voice was one of utmost disappointment.

As the chief's son turned towards the crowd of villagers, prepared to accept their verdict, Astrid grabbed his hand once again, still feeling the urgent need to give her actions some justification...or at the very least to be properly apologetic for them.

But Hiccup shook her hand away, turning back to give her one last angry look.

"You've messed it all up, _Astrid_," he snarled, giving the girl quite a shock.

She had at the very least been expecting some level of forgiveness...but now it seemed that Hiccup would never leave her a single moments solace.

Rooted to where she was standing, Astrid just watched tearfully as Stoick and the other villagers reached the arena, and Hiccup walked determinedly out to meet them.

Only when he was mere yards away from his son did Stoick halt and begin to speak.

"Hiccup," he boomed down at his son, voice harsh and grating.

"_We had a deal_."

Hiccup sighed.

"I know, I know we did. But that was before I met –" But the chief allowed his son no room to speak.

"So everything in the ring...a trick? A _lie?_" His voice was rising ominously, and Hiccup began to get desperate.

"I – I should have told you before now, but – but –" he stuttered, but Stoick cut him off once again.

"How could you? How could you betray us like this?" Astrid now saw that Hiccup's rage was visibly growing once again, just as it had done back in his room.

"You're missing the point, _Stoick,_" Hiccup shot back, and all of the onlookers gasped as they saw the chief flinch at this harsh attack.

"The dragons are _not dangerous _–" But the Vast Viking was making a real point of not letting his son finish a sentence.

"They've killed _hundreds _of us!"

"And we've killed THOUSANDS OF THEM!" Hiccup shouted back.

"They _defend _themselves, that's _all_! They raid us BECAUSE THEY HAVE TO!" Having finally captured his father's focus Hiccup ploughed ahead.

"If they don't bring enough food back, they'll be eaten themselves. There's something else on their island, it...it's a dragon-like –" Stoick's eyes suddenly gleamed with a mix of anger and excitement, and Hiccup stopped abruptly, realising he had said too much.

As if reading Astrid's mind, Stoick was a vision of expectant eagerness.

"Their _island_? So you've been to their nest?" he demanded.

"I...I –" Hiccup's familiar stutter didn't last long.

"How did you find it? HOW?" Stoick very rarely spoke this forcefully, and Astrid cringed at the sting in his words.

There was a moment's silence, during which the entire village was so silent that Astrid could hear the furthest of the breakers crashing against the great ocean stacks out in the bay.

This simple sound somehow brought some extra sense of seriousness to the situation.

The _old _Hiccup would have been frightened into answering under such interrogation tactics; the _old _Hiccup would have easily buckled under the verbal pressure which Stoick now put on him.

But the boy who now stood obstinately before his father was no longer the _old _Hiccup, the Hiccup they had all known.

Or thought they had known.

"_Why _should I tell you?" the freckly boy replied, full of defiance and conviction. "What _possible _reasoning could you use to convince me in this matter?" Stoick was beside himself with fury.

But, without any warning whatsoever, Astrid suddenly stepped in, her voice mean and insignificant next to that of the chief, but still somehow full of potent meaning.

"Hiccup, do you mean to say that you've discovered the _dragon's nest_?

The thing we've been after since Viking's first sailed here?" Hiccup was completely taken aback at Astrid's sudden intrusion into the heated discourse, but nevertheless he turned his gaze to her, tilted his head to one side, and nodded slowly.

A throb of anger suddenly permeated the Viking girl's entire body, once again eclipsed almost instantly by a feeling of pure jealousy.

"And you want to keep it a _secret_? To protect your _pet dragon_? ARE YOU SERIOUS?" "I told you before, _he's NOT my pet_!" Hiccup snarled in reply, while Stoick stood there, watching the two Viking teenagers glower at each other, their fists clenched aggressively.

"ENOUGH!" he bellowed suddenly, making everyone jump.

"Hiccup, not only have you consorted with the enemy and withheld from your own tribe vital information which could end the suffering of Berk once and for all, but you have gone so far as to _befriend_ _a dragon_ and keep it as your own?" "HE'S NOT MY PET!" Hiccup practically screamed, and Stoick's eyes widened.

"He's my _friend _and _equal_!" Hiccup continued to let his anger build, and the entire village was now visibly shocked; none of them had _ever _seen Hiccup this angry before.

Well, _almost_ none of them.

"And one other thing!" he scathed, holding up a hand to silence his father, who had been just about to speak.

"If _any _of you think that I still consider myself to be part of your tribe after everything that I've suffered at your hands, then Odin help you, for you are most sorely mistaken!" Once again, silence reigned supreme, as every man and woman, boy and girl of the Viking tribe of Berk felt the full force of Hiccup's message.

But the stillness lasted nowhere near as long this time.

"If you're not a part of this tribe..."

Stoick began slowly, letting his words build up momentum.

"Then you're not a Viking."

"You're not my son."

And that was it.

That was the last straw for Hiccup.

The boy visibly snapped, his teeth clenching and fists curling tighter with anger.

"Fine," he breathed heavily in acceptance.

"Just..._fine."_

He was doing a very good job of not exploding, thought Astrid.

"Now leave! GET OUT!" Stoick shouted down at his son.

Hiccup held his father's gaze for only a few seconds more, before turning slowly and walking purposefully off in the direction of the forest.

As all eyes followed the boy's small figure off towards the woods, Astrid could hardly believe what she was seeing as true.

A little boy...not fifteen years of age was being exiled...by his own father.

As Hiccup disappeared amongst the trees, Stoick let out a great sigh of weariness; the argument had left him visibly exhausted.

After a moment's silence, during which no Viking of any age dared to make a sound, the chief turned slowly to face his tribe, worn out yet determined.

"Gobber," he commanded with some lingering authority, addressing the Belch of a man who had been standing at the edge of the crowd, fidgeting with his prostheses, "I would like you to select the two best recruits for a match against a dragon of your choosing...please."

This last word seemed to catch in Stoick's throat, and Gobber nodded quietly.

"The winner takes...the winner will be awarded the _honour _of killing their first dragon in front of the entire village, as is per our custom."

He finished with on a forceful note, giving clear indication to everyone that it was over.

As the Viking villagers began once again to disperse, all heading back to Berk, Astrid turned to walk with them, trying to seem small and insignificant; not an easy feat for a girl of her character.

But Stoick called her over quietly, and the blond Viking knew better than to ignore her chief now.

"I never want to hear of this _ever again_" he muttered to her quietly, before dismissing her with a wave of the hand.

Feeling as though the wind had been knocked out of her, Astrid turned to see that she was being approached by the rest of the gang; each and every one of them looked particularly solemn and sober.

Giving her a weak smile, Fishlegs said "He...kind of had it coming."

Astrid frowned.

"Yeah," chimed in the "Nuts" simultaneously.

Snotlout was just as quick to agree.

"Siding with the dragons..." he chortled. "That little fool –"

"Oh _shut up _Snotlout," Astrid suddenly snapped, surprising even herself.

"Why do you even _bother_ opening your mouth if all that's going to come out of it is muck?" The bullish Viking was clearly affronted, but more shocked than anything.

"What – Astrid, you aren't seriously _supporting _what Hiccup did, are you?" he demanded, somewhat put-off.

"I don't know..." she replied, turning away, trying to deal with what had just happened.

The other Viking teens were all giving her queer looks, but Astrid didn't care.

In fact...she had never cared less about her image; and this, more than anything confused her.

But one person and _one person only _was responsible for this.

Only one boy had had the gall to challenge what every Viking had for so long taken for granted...and this one boy was the one responsible for trying to show Astrid what really mattered.

Hiccup.

_Hiccup_.

Suddenly, Astrid knew what was to be done.

Even if it made no difference to the village, even if it didn't stop him from leaving, she _had_ to see Hiccup once more, if only to ask...no, to _beg _for his forgiveness.

She _had _to have it.

And once again, the blond Viking found herself running away from the gang, from her friends, chasing a fantastical idea...and a fantastical boy.

"Astrid, where are you going?" Fishlegs called after her.

But the girl was already gone, dashing off into the forest, determined to catch Hiccup before he...before he left...for good.

And she knew exactly where to go.

* * *

><p><em>Only one more chapter to go in this first part of the story now, people! I'm sure you can all guess by now where we are going to end up<em>, _but it's going to be an interesting ride to where all the characters go from there!_

_Two weeks people,_

_Lumpyness._


	10. Chapter Ten

_Well, here we are at last people! The final chapter! Well, the final chapter of part one._

_I'd just like to remind you all that this is a three-part story of ten chapters and a epilogue each, with two, possibly three sequels planned._

_And please, once again, rate and review! I really don't mind if you've got nothing but criticism, but at least say more than "great chapter!" or "update pls!11!11"._

_And most importantly...enjoy!_

_Oh, and one more thing... Last chapter, Hiccup had just been shouted out of the village by his own father, leaving a torn Astrid to chase him down and...well, we'll see where it takes them both.  
><em>

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><p><strong>Chapter Ten: Exiled<strong>

Hiccup climbed slowly down into the great cleft in the forest floor, his mind and heart heavy with the darkest of thoughts and emotions.

But the one which stood out above all others, pushing aside any meagre feelings of sadness and self-pity, was the thought that he had failed.

And not just that he had failed, but that he _was _a failure.

That it was all he had ever been, and all that he would ever be.

"_I should have...why didn't I just...why couldn't I have simply..."_

The tendrils of self-doubt wormed their way into the depths of Hiccup's mind, fuelled by the numerous, tantalising scenarios of what could have been which now chased each other round and round in his head.

Finally reaching the bottom of the cliff, Hiccup attempted to force his face into a kind of pleasant smile...or what he hoped was something to that effect.

It wouldn't do to let Toothless see him like this; the Night Fury always became quite upset whenever Hiccup was angry, sad, or a combination of the two.

And in spite of the fact that these feelings were now regulars in the boy's repertoire of emotions, he couldn't bring himself to show Toothless just how full of grief and rage he was at this moment.

"Hey Toooothless! Toothless?" Hiccup called out, whistling that little tune he that always did upon arrival at the clearing.

And sure enough, the boisterous black dragon came bounding out from behind his favourite bush, tong lolling and tail-fin flapping, a joyous smile on his smooth features.

"_No,_" thought Hiccup sadly, "_I can't show him...I can't let him see what I'm feeling."_

But, the boy noted dismally, it wouldn't be of any use to even try; Toothless had this ability to see inside of him, to perceive exactly what Hiccup was thinking and feeling.

Dragons were, undoubtedly, the intelligent equals of humans, although the majority of the latter seemed blind to this fact.

In spite of all of this, the exiled Viking could not help but break into a genuine smile of happiness as he saw how overjoyed his best friend was at the boy's return.

"Hey bud!" he called, and the dragon gave a roar of affection as he raced up to Hiccup's side.

"It's good to see you again, pal," the boy spoke softly, affectionately scratching the Night Fury's scaly hide while the dragon purred contentedly.

Having been so preoccupied with how to go about tackling the Monstrous Nightmare, Hiccup had not taken time off to visit his reptilian friend for several days.

And while he knew that Toothless could survive for at least a week without feeding, possibly longer, the poor reptile would indeed miss his human companion, and begin to pine away if kept isolated and alone for too long.

Looking down into his best friend's eyes, Hiccups studied their intricate green complexion for a moment, lost in his own thoughts; but, for Hiccup's part, this was a mistake.

The dragon blinked several times, eyes wide and curious, before it occurred to him that something was wrong.

Something was _very _wrong.

In fact, Toothless had _never_ seen Hiccup this down before.

The boy seemed to be emanating an aura of pure woe.

Nuzzling his snout up against Hiccup's chest, the dragon tried very hard to get his message across.

"_It's alright, Hiccup. Talk to me. Tell me what's wrong."_

"I don't know where to begin," Hiccup sighed, before suddenly checking himself.

"Actually, that's a lie," he chortled, a little abashed at his own verbal incompetence.

"You know how I was telling you that I wanted to make peace between Vikings and dragons somehow?" Toothless thought back to four days ago, when he and Hiccup had been drawing in the sand together down by the shores of the lagoon in the clearing.

"_I've been chosen, bud,_" Hiccup had stated suddenly, and Toothless had looked round at him, eyes narrowed as if to say '_you-humans-are-so-bad-at-starting-conversations-so-just-say-precisely-what-you-want-to-say'_.

"_I placed first in dragon training, which means in only a few days time I'm going to have to kill a dragon...or risk expulsion from the village."_

Toothless had immediately begun to growl at the idea that little Hiccup could be contemplating the slaughter of an innocent animal, but the boy had immediately gone on to explain how this could actually be used as an opportunity to show the Vikings of Berk the true nature of dragons, and to try and bring about at the very least some kind of treaty, perhaps leading to an eventual peace between the warring nations.

Evidently, it had not gone so well.

"Well, today was that day," Hiccup said softly, and Toothless' eyes widened with fear.

"_Surely...surely he hadn't...?_"

"I didn't kill the dragon," the boy stated simply, smiling down at his friend, but Toothless relaxed only a little; he knew that this was not all that Hiccup had to tell.

"You, of all people, should know that I couldn't. Ever. So, right in front of the entire village, I made a truce with the great red Nightmare that we...that _they _have captive in Berk."

Hiccup was now visibly fighting back tears, and Toothless crooned softly, curling his tail around the quivering boy.

"_Surely they would have seen that if you could quieten the raging heart of a fiery Nightmare, that anything was possible between dragons and humans?_"

Hiccup shook his head mournfully.

"Long story short...I've been exiled – by my own father."

There was silence between human and dragon for a minute or two, before Toothless perked up the courage to continue.

"_Yet_..._please don't take this the wrong way, but is it really such a loss? I mean, they never accepted you for who you were anyway, so why should they have reason to listen to you now?_"

Hiccup chuckled.

"I figure I shouldn't be complaining," he grinned sheepishly, wiping a few tears from his eyes.

"And anyway, none of that matters now, because we're leaving."

Toothless cocked his head to one side, ears pricking up with curiosity.

"_You've finally decided? But where will we go?_"

"I neither know nor care where we end up, as long as it's as far away from this ghastly place as possible...but I do know that this has been a long time coming," Hiccup spoke slowly.

"I wanted to leave after I beat Astrid in dragon training almost a week ago, but something held me back. I still can't figure out exactly what it was either..."

Toothless' mind flashed back once again to the day after Hiccup placed first in the dragon training tournament which was apparently intended to shape Vikings into true warriors and dragon-slayers.

"_Hey bud..." _Hiccup had mumbled upon entering the clearing, and Toothless had known instantly what the outcome of the match was; his rider had explained the stakes the day before.

"_Hiccup, look at yourself."_

Toothless had done his very best to try and make Hiccup see the light.

"_Look at what life here is doing to you; how it's affecting you. We need to leave. Now."_

Hiccup's eyes had glazed over at these words, and he had stared off into the distance thoughtfully.

"_No..." _he had said at length, "_not now. Not yet. I need to see this through."_

Perhaps this was another sad attempt to gain the respect of his fellow...of the other villagers, the Night Fury had pondered at the time.

"_Then again, perhaps there is something deeper at work here. Surely Hiccup would see reason in this matter and heed my council."_

Suddenly, Toothless' eyes narrowed and snout stiffened, ears pricking up as thought trying to make out the faintest of sounds.

"What is it, bud –" Hiccup began to ask uncertainly, but was immediately cut off by a loud clattering sound.

Turning abruptly to look at the crevice down which he had climbed to get into the clearing, the boy watched with a slight feeling of satisfaction as a cascade of pebbles came crashing down the side of the cliff...carrying _Astrid_ with them; the Viking girl had apparently been trying to sneak up on Hiccup and the dragon, but had failed dismally.

Toothless gave a deep, grating laugh.

Hiccup's feeling of amusement was only momentary, and he scowled.

What was Astrid doing here?

Had she only come to have the last laugh?

To send him on his way?

Hiccup casually noticed that the girl did not have her axe with her presently.

Astrid without her axe?

This was truly a first.

Sensing his friend's aggressive feelings, Toothless also began to growl, creeping slowly forwards towards the blond Viking, who was now picking herself up off the ground, looking rather dishevelled, clothes torn in several places.

Doing his very best to ignore the highly suggestive way in which her tunic had torn, Hiccup let out a derisive snort.

"Come to laugh at me once more?" he called out, just as Astrid noticed the great black dragon bearing slowly down upon her.

"H-hey..."

the Viking girl stuttered, backing away towards the cliff as Toothless prowled slowly towards her, snarling ominously; he obviously didn't think much of this new intruder.

Hiccup felt some strange sense of power at this scene; a defenceless, teenage Viking, indeed, one of his previous oppressors, backing away in fear from Hiccup's own friend, a mighty Night Fury.

But regardless of this, he still didn't want to see Astrid hurt.

"Easy, bud," the boy spoke confidently, striding up to rest a hand on his friend's back.

"She won't hurt you. She _can't _hurt you," Hiccup finished, giving Astrid the dirtiest of looks.

Toothless ceased his low growl, and instead began to pace from side to side, eyeing the nosy invader off.

"You didn't answer my question," Hiccup shot, his voice curt and dry.

"No," returned Astrid, her eyes still following the prowling black dragon nervously.

"That's...not why I came here."

"Then why bother following me all the way here?" Hiccup demanded angrily.

"Surely _you Vikings _have better things to do than spy on a dragon and his recluse outcast of a human?" Hiccup had never before spoken as though there was any kind of _ownership_ present between himself and Toothless...but did so just this once and in just this fashion simply to produce that predictable look of surprise on Astrid's face.

The girl paused, obviously disconcerted by the way he had referred to her and the other villagers as "_you Vikings_".

But Hiccup didn't want to hear her speak.

In fact, he wanted nothing more to do with anything that could link him to his tribe...no, to _her_ tribe.

Just as Astrid opened her mouth to speak, Hiccup held up his hand to silence her.

Once there had been a time, he noted with satisfaction, when an action like this would have sent Hiccup plunging to ground with face full of fist.

"Why don't you just hurry on back to Berk," he spoke, lacing his words carefully with a hint of sarcastic Viking authority.

Now that the boy was officially no longer a part of the village of Berk, he felt no reservations in mocking the Viking customs and culture.

In fact, he revelled in its derision.

That...and he had the supreme ruler of the dragon's skies present and watching over him, making sure that no-one could bring harm to him for voicing his true feelings and opinions.

"They'll be wondering where their favourite _shieldmaiden _has got to."

But, just as Hiccup turned to go, climbing up to sit astride the black dragon, Astrid finally plucked up the courage to speak.

"Hiccup I'm...I'm sorry for –" But the freckly boy quickly cut her off; she was singing a familiar tune, one which he had heard many times before; and this time he was less than impressed.

"No you're not," Hiccup spat, enraged that the blond girl had the nerve to try and pull this particular wool over his eyes yet again.

Toothless' growling increased in volume, incensed that this puny little Viking would even _dare_ to ask for Hiccup's forgiveness, and after everything she and the others had done, too.

"You were _never _sorry. All you ever wanted was to see me gone, just so you get all the glory yourself –"

"That's not true!" Astrid yelled at him, her voice beginning to shake with sadness once again; but he would not be fooled this time.

"Isn't it?" the boy shouted back, suddenly finding himself needing to fight to once again control his anger.

"Petty jealousy was all that ever motivated you to do this, and you know it!" A single tear streaked down the side of Astrid's face at these words, and Hiccup felt a slight twinge of guilt at the extreme harshness in his own voice; perhaps she was sincere?

"Will you please let me finish?" Astrid asked loudly, also struggling to keep her voice civil.

Hiccup nodded slowly, and she continued.

"I'm sorry that Snotlout and the others wouldn't listen to you, and I'm sorry that your father –"

"He's no longer my father; he said it himself!" Hiccup cut in.

But now it was Astrid who was commanding _his_ silence.

"But more than anything else...I'm sorry for what _I _did.

I was wrong...and for that, I can never apologise enough."

Hiccup held her gaze for almost a full minute, thinking things over.

"_Why would she even bother coming here at all?_" Hiccup asked himself "_She's got what she wanted _–_ another chance at placing first in dragon training. Perhaps Astrid really means what she's saying."_

"_No,_" chimed in Toothless, the dragon's thoughts mingling with those of his rider.

"_When did a Viking ever show the capacity for true remorse? When did one of the villagers ever demonstrate to you that they could feel as deeply as you and I do?_"

Hiccup sighed inwardly "_...you're right."_

He blinked several times, coming out of his revere with Toothless.

Taking one last look at the timid Viking girl, Hiccup steeled himself, resolutely setting his mind on one goal, and one goal alone.

"_Goodbye_, Astrid."

And without another word, they took off.

* * *

><p><em>Well, there you have it. That's it. He's gone.<em>

_You'll be getting a short epilogue in two weeks, and then two weeks after that I'll start posting up the second part, one chapter at a time every two weeks._

_I hope you've all enjoyed the story so far, but it's about to get a whole lot more intense!_

_Lumpyness.  
><em>


	11. Epilogue

_Hehe, two weeks already? Well, here you are then; the epilogue._

_Hiccup has just been exiled from the village, and has even turned down a heartfelt attempt at an apology from an unusually empathic Astrid. He has now taken off on Toothless for lands unknown...this last little piece is just wrapping things up.  
><em>

_Enjoy_!

* * *

><p><strong>Epilogue<strong>

Astrid trudged back through the sunlit forest towards the Viking village of Berk, as the balmy afternoon transformed slowly into a cold and foggy evening, and the northern stars began one by one to peer out through the low-lying clouds, like tiny needles of light adding a touch of serenity to the dismal scene.

A few lonely raindrops splashed down onto the leafy canopy above.

The icy chill of a northern autumn was setting it, and not just in the lands surrounding Berk.

Depressed was hardly how Astrid would have described herself at this point in time.

Confused, and perhaps unsettled were somewhat closer to the mark, yet still not quite there.

In truth, the young Viking had no idea whatsoever as to how to react to what she was now feeling.

It was with some disquiet that she noted that this had become an all-too familiar situation.

And it was this realisation more than anything that terrified her; rare indeed was it that a Viking perceived as uncertain what should inherently be as transparent and obvious as the fact that dragons were cold, heartless pests.

Hiccup was such a strange boy, she mused.

To have gone further than any other Viking along this path, to have placed his complete and unfaltering trust in one of their arch-enemies...the Viking girl wondered if she would ever understand what it was empowered this boy with the strength of mind and heart to commit such an act, or what he felt upon doing it.

And yet another idea was present in Astrid's maelstrom of ideas; she _should_ be feeling none of this.

Was Astrid not, once again, the best dragon slayer of her age group?

Should she not be happy, overjoyed, _ecstatic _even that the little nuisance which was Hiccup the Useless had now been forever banished from the village of Berk?

Never again would he be able to mess things up and put his fellow...humans in danger.

Never again would he be able to make the other teens look clever or better than him simply by trying to fit in.

Never again...

Astrid let out a great sigh, her head drooping with exhaustion, and continued back through the deep shadows of the glades and forests surrounding the Viking village of Berk.

* * *

><p>Hiccup yawned, his mouth gaping wide, the tremendous exhaustion of the previous day finally set in.<p>

As the great crescent moon rose majestically over the infinite, oceanic horizon, the dragon and his rider soared ever onwards, not knowing where they were headed; important was it only that they put as great a distance between themselves and Berk as possible.

Catching the highest of air currents, the Night Fury began to relax and let himself glide on the warm flow of air which carried them effortlessly west.

Content at last that his rider was safe and out of reach of the hurt and abuse which he would otherwise be suffering, Toothless' mind slowly quieted, and the great dragon slept upon the vast aerial tide of the sky.

It took Hiccup, however, significantly longer to succumb to the blissful temptation of rest.

He was not nervous that Toothless would unexpectedly plummet from the sky as they slept; on the contrary, the boy's faith in his dragon's judgement had never been sounder.

No, it was what still churned restlessly _within_ Hiccup's mind which held the boy fast, determined not to let him fall into the dark abyss of solace which only sleep could provide.

The tired, scruffy, brown-haired boy could not understand why he was still upset.

This was indeed a blessing, was it not?

He had been formally exiled from the village of Berk with as little aggression as could be hoped for, especially considering that everyone now knew of his secret pact with the Viking's arch-enemy.

But, nevertheless, it still felt like there existed somewhere a knot yet tied, a rope still tight, a tug of connection linking him with...something.

Something which he had left behind.

Some_one_.

Contemplating this, Hiccup didn't even notice as sleep's grip stole stealthily over his mind, wresting and relieving from the boy his final vestiges of conscious thought and worry.

Together, Hiccup and his Toothless now slept high in the sky, far away from any kind of danger or harm, satisfied, content, and at peace in each other's company.

**To be continued...**

* * *

><p><em>Well there you have it people. Lots of expectations, questions, but you'll all have to wait another two weeks, I'm afraid!<em>

_Now I know that there are several elements of my story which will be unclear at this stage, a particular example being how Toothless and Hiccup communicate_ _like they do. But never fear; all will be explained in due season!_

_Just quickly, I would like to thank ChoFrog09 for her help with proof-reading and editing the next part of my writing. She's doing a fantastic job, and it means that the next part of the story should be of much higher quality, and without so many little spelling and grammatical mistakes which detract from the enjoyment.  
><em>

_Remember, Part Two will be commencing in two weeks as a new story under the title of Reconciliation. Keep an eye out!  
><em>


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